Stress Reduction and Heart Attacks

It has long been suspected that a risk factor for heart attacks, in addition to lack of exercise, poor diet, high cholesterol, genetic makeup, and so on, is the level of stress in one’s life. Scientists have hypothesized for years that relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation might have a positive effect on disease outcome, but it’s been difficult to prove.

Now a team of researchers claims to have proved it, according to a news article. They report that just 20 minutes of transcendental meditation per day significantly lowers the risk of heart attack by 47% in a group of high-risk patients (African American patients with narrowed coronary arteries.)

The results have not yet been published in a peer reviewed medical journal, the point at which they generally are accepted by the scientific community. Personally, I’d feel better if one of the researchers were not from the Maharishi University of Management, an institution founded by the Indian guru who popularized transcendental meditation back in the 1960s. In addition, it’s not clear whether the results in this one group of high-risk patients would translate to other types of high-risk patients, or to persons at lower risk. Time will tell whether the findings can be duplicated by other researchers and whether other stress relaxation techniques have a similar effect.